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‘You need a system’ : Exploring the role of data in the administration of university students and courses
Selwyn, Neil Henderson, Michael Chao, Shu-Hua
Selwyn, Neil
Henderson, Michael
Chao, Shu-Hua
Abstract
Universities generate a mass of data related to students and the courses that they study. As such, ‘data work’ using digital technologies and digital systems is integral to educational administration within higher education. Drawing on in-depth interviews with administrative and managerial staff in an Australian university, this article examines the data practices and processes that have grown up around students and courses. In particular, the article explores the ‘back-stage’ issues surrounding data – e.g. concerns and tensions associated with appropriate uses of data; the organisational cultures that form around the use of data; and the (un)intended consequences of data work. These findings point towards an implicit ‘black-boxing’ of data that shapes the generation and use of digital data in ways that are predominantly restricted and bounded. The article concludes by considering how these constrained forms of data use might be problematised and reconsidered.
Keywords
data, digital, university, systems, administration, administrators
Date
2018
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Further and Higher Education
Book
Volume
42
Issue
1
Page Range
46-56
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Education
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled